NEW YORK CITY - The pilot of a tourist helicopter made a splash landing in the Hudson River shortly before noon Sunday and all aboard, including four Swedish tourists, were rescued unharmed, according to New York police and press reports.

The pilot, Mike Campbell, is a Buffalo native who graduated from Hutch Tech. His uncle , Bill Campbell, tells 2 on Your Side that Michael heard a loud boom and suddenly saw his instruments go haywire then the chopper started to descend as it lost power.

The aircraft took off from a heliport near Wall Street and reached an altitude of about 200 feet before losing power, New York Police Department Sgt. Lee Jones said.

"The pilot decided to do an emergency landing on the Hudson River," Jones said.

Campbell was able to activate flotation devices to keep the helicopter afloat while a civilian rescuer in a Zodiac boat arrived to transport everyone on board to safety, Jones said. A New York fire department boat later towed the helicopter to shore.

The fire department said the passengers were two adults and two children from Sweden.

In January, a small plane crashed and sank into the icy Hudson River off Yonkers. Two people were rescued.

In 2009, a US Airways flight landed safely on the Hudson after striking a flock of geese. All 155 people aboard survived.